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Zachary Cale

Out on ORG Music 05.24.24

Discography

Album cover with a lamp shop window lit up at night and a man walking across
NEXT YEAR'S GHOST
Skywriting Album Cover
Skywriting
False Spring LP cover
False Spring
Duskland album cover
Duskland
Blue Rider album cover
Blue Rider
Noise of Welcom Album Cover
Noise of Welcome
See-Saw album cover
See-Saw
Walking Papers Album Cover
Walking Papers
Come Quietly b​/​w The Wedding Party 7" cover
Come Quietly 7"
Outlander Sessions album cover
Outlander Sessions

Videos

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Press

“. . . this [Next Year’s Ghost] is a very different kind of record for Cale. Piano and Wurlitzer are the cornerstones of the album, written as a meditative respite in the pandemic. The album ponders loneliness, isolation, time and its tenure. It’s a new skin for Cale, but inside beats the same resilient heart that hums through his past works. . . a bittersweet collection that drapes the listener in the comforts of melancholy. The spiraling lines of keys lead the way, but with the wealth of friends around him at last, Cale carves out one of his most affecting albums yet. . . Zachary has always been one of our great troubadours, but rendered in stark relief, the songs on Next Year’s Ghost burrow into the listeners’ lives and wander around our wounds a while.  ”

-RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES

originally posted in RSTB May, 2024 →

“An exploration of the restlessness of age, a rumination on regret, the song is one of Zachary’s most devastating. The song [“Shatterstar”] feels like a loss of faith in the world around you, tossing and turning at night, trying to push away the constant gnaw of tomorrow’s worries.”

-RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES

originally posted in RSTB March, 2024 →

 

“The album [Next Year’s Ghost] was made during the intense days of lockdown in 2020-21… There was a total sense of dread at that time… The music was reflecting that: the isolation, the uncertainty and the unrest. It felt like we were rising to meet the moment. It was a heavy time and sharing that space together was special..”

-Excerpt from an Interview with Zachary Cale at THE SELF PORTRAIT GOSPEL

originally posted in TSPG March 21, 2024 →

“It may be the dead of winter, but Zachary Cale’s latest offering is a welcome dose of sonic sunshine. The first taste of the songwriter’s forthcoming SKYWRITING LP, “Bigger Picture” is anchored by an irresistible guitar hook and a buoyant rhythmic groove from by Peter Kerlin. . .  As is his usual MO, Cale expertly balances the sweetness of the music with a pinch of bitterness, detailing the strange sadness of a life spent on the road. ”

-AQUARIUM DRUNKARD

originally posted in Aquarium Drunkard, January 27, 2022 →

“With a slight whisky rasp, Cale lays out motel loneliness, Highway hypnosis, solitary meditations, dark secrets, and darker nights. The full band swells his sound — cool water pianos and guitars that slide across the soul with a plush velvet touch. There’s a tension between emotional turbulence and weathered acceptance. It’s a record coming to terms with itself and what it wants out of life — one toe in gig jobs, one toe in a touring life. Cale runs the tightrope well, providing solace and sanction at once, crafting one of his most nuanced albums yet.”

-RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES

originally posted in Raven Sings The Blues April 8, 2022 →

“Cale is a multi-dimensional song-conjurer, capable of crafting songs that saunter and shimmer on the surface, but hold deeper, darker insights that reveal themselves upon repeated listens. ”

-BANDCAMP

originally posted in BandCamp.com May 23, 2022 →

“Skywriting, [is] one of his most fleshed-out, robust sounding albums to date, inspired by time on the road and packed with memorable songs and sparkling arrangements.”

-BROOKLYN VEGAN

originally posted in Brookly Vegan, April 14, 2022→

“False Spring is a long, sweet ramble of an album. Like the view from an early morning flight, it assumes a vantage where everything looks still and glowing and peaceful. . .A companion for the long haul”

-PITCHFORK

originally posted in PITCHFORK, June 26, 2020 →

“These are generous songs, filled with a need for connection and conversation… it’s hard not to hear 2020 in virtually every moment of False Spring

-AQUARIUM DRUNKARD

originally posted in Aquarium Drunkard June 1, 2020 →

“[ False Spring ] is a raft in waters that aren’t so forgiving and it’s worth holding on tight.”

-RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES

originally posted in Raven Sings The Blues, June 3, 2020 →

“Whether acoustic or electric, his playing speaks to you plainly, directly and rather beautifully.”

-DUSTED

originally posted in Dusted, May 28, 2020 →

“Zachary Cale is a helluva guitar player, his understated picking patterns interweave like latticework, thrust through dusky production, whispering and lush strings…”

-Lars Gotrich – NPR

originally posted in NPR, All Songs Considered, July 11, 2017 →

“Even before you hear his guitar’s golden drone, Zachary Cale’s mesmerizing Louisiana drawl will suck you in. . . Duskland is Cale’s twilight, an album of fleeting, thorny significance.”

-STEREOGUM

originally posted in Stereogum May 27, 2015 →

“Blue Rider is an album obsessed with atmosphere, color, and feeling. Cale sings with a laid-back air, surrounded by a bed of droned-out guitars, reverb-drenched soundscapes, and a steady forward-moving percussive propulsion. It all conspires together to lull you into a drifting trance. It’s a milkshake of rollicking country, blues, ’60s rock, and modern singer-songwriter, painted in hues perfect for enriching a late night walk in the city.”

-The Key: WXPN

originally posted in XPN Folkadelphia Sessions January 23rd, 2014 →

“These songs can fill up space or carve it out, but either way Duskland marks another evolution in Cale’s sound, another shift in textures and sonic landscape that reflects the unique themes and beauties of this record. These songs are bittersweet, haunting yet hopeful, and endlessly listenable. Duskland is Cale’s golden hour.”

-POP MATTERS

originally posted in Pop Matters, August 6, 2015 →

“7.9 The first thing beckoning you towards Blue Rider is its atmosphere— spacious, cool, distant. Zachary Cale’s mesmerizing finger-picking, drawing on open-string drone and country blues tunings, wanders restlessly around a clean, well-lit place of a mix, synths humming like 3am refrigerators and chiming guitars confusing your sense of middle distance. It is a misty, gorgeous record, a space that feels wonderful to roam around in…”

-PITCHFORK

originally posted in Pitchfork December 12, 2013 →

“Playing solo and with full band accompaniment, this loner/Leonard Cohen acolyte plays an accomplished guitar and writes serious lyrics with poetic depth.”

-STILL SINGLE/DUSTED MAGAZINE
originally posted in Dusted 2011 →

 

“New York transplant, Zachary Cale’s folk sound is as beautifully raw as they come. . . His unusual voice and poetic songwriting are pleasantly welcomed surprises.”

-CBS NEW YORK
originally posted in CBS NY February 6, 2011 →

Biography

photo by Matthew Placek

Zachary Cale has been a fixture of the underground music scene in NYC for over 17 years. Often cited as a songwriter’s songwriter, his eclectic musical influences have guided his own unique style of songwriting. Whether alone with an acoustic guitar in an intimate room or on a festival stage with a full band, the song itself has always been his magnetic north. An expressive singer and masterful guitarist Cale has honed his craft over years of touring and recording.

Contact

Booking Inquiries

ZACHARY CALE

zacharycale@gmail.com

 

Press Inquiries

XO PUBLICITY

Chris Estey

estey@xopublicity.com

 

Licensing/ Syncs

TERROR BIRD
Josh Briggs
josh@terrorbird.com